Prelude to the AMC Gremlin: The 1968 AMX-GT Concept

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The AMX-GT concept looked like the front of an AMC Javelin grafted to the rear end of a Gremlin, but actually it appeared two years before the 1970 Gremlin. Let’s have a closer look.

 

The 1970 Gremlin from American Motors will forever be known as the car that was designed on the back of an air sickness bag. But wouldn’t you know it, the full story is a little more complicated than that. In truth, the Gremlin’s overall shape, including the unique bobtailed rear end treatment, was worked out before the impromptu airline sketch—on the AMX-GT, first shown to the public at the New York Auto Show, which opened on March 30, 1968.

 

In an interview for the August 1970 issue of Popular Mechanics, AMC vice president of design Richard Teague detailed how the AMX-GT laid the groundwork for the Gremlin. (The feature also includes Teague’s celebrated air-sickness bag sketch.) “The general shape of the car was based on a preliminary car we showed around the country a few years ago, the AMX-GT,” said Teague. “This drew a tremendously favorable response from the people who saw it.” On the Gremlin, what Teague described as a “very bobtailed rear, minimal overhang” allowed AMC to produce a car with a subcompact footprint to compete against the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega. And with a minimal investment, using the Hornet compact as its foundation.

 

The AMX-GT used a ’68 Javelin platform and front end with the wheelbase shortened from 109 inches to 97 inches (same as the production AMX sports car). The dash and interior came from the Javelin/AMX as well, while the body from the cowl rearward was constructed from scratch in fiberglass. For the New York debut, the concept wore Candy Apple Red paint, flat disc wheel covers, and blackwall tires. But later, it received red, white, and blue paint, American Racing five-spoke mags, and Goodyear tires with raised white letters. To create the Gremlin, the design theme—complete with sawed-off tail—was transplanted from the Javelin to the Hornet, new for 1970.

The final appearance of the AMX-GT, apparently, was in the 1969 American Motors Annual Report, below. The current whereabouts of the concept, a glider without engine or drivetrain, are said to be unknown and it was presumably scrapped. However, Daniel Strohl of Hemmings.com reported (as of August 2024) that a recreation is under construction using donor metal from a ’68 Javelin and a ’73 Gremlin.

 

6 thoughts on “Prelude to the AMC Gremlin: The 1968 AMX-GT Concept”

  1. I think it’s more attractive than the production AMX. Especially in red, white and blue. Had they moved the fuel filler and made it a full hatch to the bumper it might have been a trendsetter in 1969. I never understood why the AMX was so big for a 2-seater but I guess that it needed to stand out from the Corvette.

    • The full hatch would’ve benefited both the Gremlin and the Hornet Sportabout as well. Same parts, both cars. I’m actually surprised AMC didn’t do it that way, and use the tooling money saved to shorten the Gremlin’s front overhang and bring its lines back into proportion.

  2. Meh, enough was enough. I mean, it looks sharp as heck, but the Javelin wasn’t the biggest success and the Gremlins quirkiness was its attraction. The Gremlin was supposed to be an import economy car fighter, and enjoyed success because of the timing. Foreign cars hadn’t quite kicked in yet, but gas prices did, and Gremlin offered economy and cheap price. The last thing people wanted initially, was a performance Gremlin. I think it was a wise decision to go with the Gremlin, they sold a whopping 671,475 Gremlins, at $1871 in 1970,, it was the cheapest US car sold, beating the former champ, the VW Bug by $100. I doubt the AMX-GT would have had a chance. Sure looks cool.

  3. My Dad brought a 71 Hornet and the only option was a AM radio. 3 on the tree, plastic flooring, vacuum wipers, bench seat and a steering wheel that sucked the heat out of your hands on a cold winters day. No tinted glass made it hot in the Iowa summers with no A/C.
    He brought it when my Mum was away visiting her Sister in Minneapolis. He came home after work and said “Boy’s, come outside. I want to show you something.” We loved it! I had never smelled a new car before and was hooked! Mum on the other hand was not impressed. Money was tight and she paid the bills. “Bill, how could you?!?!” It was the only fight they ever had; if you could call it that.
    We drove that car 250K miles and by the time it was done you could see all four tires because of the rust.
    My Mum had to admit later that it was a good investment.

  4. The correct spelling is Daniel Strohl. I think the GT is much better looking IMHO. I remember the commercial with the police officer asking “Where’s the rest of your car Toots?” My buddy had a red gremmie and it was called the tomato can special or the T.C. for short. We used to take it out to the boonies and burn the tires and one time actually lit a pile of rubber on fire and we all screamed “way to go!” Ah yes the stupid simplicity of burning rubber, crazy youthful antics. Those were the days!

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